logo
Aussies delivers US-made tanks to Kyiv, as EU signs strictest sanctions package against Putin

Aussies delivers US-made tanks to Kyiv, as EU signs strictest sanctions package against Putin

New York Post4 days ago
Australia has delivered its first shipment of US-made tanks to the Ukrainian army.
The majority of the promised 49 M1A1 Abrams tanks have made their way to Ukraine, with the rest expected to be delivered in the coming months, Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said Saturday. But it remains unclear how many have actually arrived in the war-torn country.
The M1 Abrams is the main battle tank of the US Army — and one of the heaviest tanks in service.
Advertisement
4 The M1A1 Abrams tank weighs 62 tons it is one of the heaviest and strongest tanks, according to the US army.
Department of Defense
'The M1A1 tanks will make a significant contribution to Ukraine's ongoing fight against Russia's illegal and immoral invasion,' Marles said in a statement.
The delivery is part of a $160 million package the Aussies are sending to help Kyiv fend off Russia's invasion.
Advertisement
The country is also planning to deploy a Royal Australian Air Force E-7A Wedgetail aircraft to Europe in August, to help protect an international gateway for assistance to Ukraine.
Australia is one of the largest non-NATO contributors to Ukraine. It's been sending military equipment, ammunition and aid to Kyiv since the start of Russian strongman Vladimir Putin's 2022 invasion.
4 Marles said most of the tanks have made their way to Ukraine with the rest coming in the next few months.
AP
The US meanwhile reshuffled its arms deliveries to free up more Patriots for Ukraine — the Pentagon's key missile defense system, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
Advertisement
And the House overwhelmingly also voted to continue providing military support to Ukraine this week, as President Trump announced 'billions of dollars' worth of weapons would be shipped to Ukraine through Washington's NATO allies.
Further ratcheting up the pressure on Putin, the EU finally approved an 18th sanctions package against Russia.
The package was being held back by Slovakia, but Prime Minister Robert Fico agreed to stop blocking its approval Friday. It's believed to be the toughest levied on the Kremlin since the war broke out.
'We are standing firm. The EU just approved one of its strongest sanctions package against Russia to date,' EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on X.
Advertisement
4 Putin is facing his strictest sanctions package from the EU yet.
AP
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky applauded the move, meant to severely limit Russia's war chest.
'This decision is essential and timely, especially now, as a response to the fact that Russia has intensified the brutality of the strikes on our cities and villages,' Zelensky said on X.
It sets a moving price cap on Russian crude oil, 15% below its average market price, according to EU diplomats. That means the Kremlin wouldn't be able to sell its oil for more than roughly $47.60 per barrel right now — far below the EU's previous $60 cap.
But oil traders have cast doubt whether it will disrupt Russian exports, as it's unclear who's responsible for policing the cap's implementation.
4 Zelensky welcomed the latest EU sanctions package.
ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA
And Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the move.
'We have repeatedly said that we consider such unilateral restrictions illegal, we oppose them,' Peskov told reporters Friday.
Advertisement
The sanctions also go after more Russian shadow fleet ships, banning an additional 105 vessels from accessing EU ports, adding the total to 400.
And transactions related to Russia's Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea will also be banned as part of the EU package, as Kyiv's allies look to pressure Putin into agreeing to a long-awaited cease-fire deal in the deadly war.
With wires
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Philippines goods to face 19% tariff, Trump says
Philippines goods to face 19% tariff, Trump says

Yahoo

time12 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Philippines goods to face 19% tariff, Trump says

The US will levy a 19% tax on imports from the Philippines, US President Donald Trump has announced after meeting with the country's president at the White House. Trump wrote on social media on Tuesday that the new tariff was part of a wider pact, in which the Philippines would remove duties on US goods and the two countries would cooperate militarily. "It was a beautiful visit, and we concluded our Trade Deal," he wrote on social media, offering no further details about the apparent agreement. The plan, which was not confirmed by the Philippines, would leave the country facing a tax even higher than what Trump had threatened when he first announced sweeping global tariffs in April. At the time, Trump said his goal with instituting tariffs was to push countries to drop policies he saw as unfair to the US. His plans set off a flurry of trade talks with countries around the world. He has since announced a handful of deals, including with the UK, China and Indonesia. But the agreements so far have kept in place high tariffs, with key issues unresolved or unconfirmed by both parties. With Trump now threatening a new round of higher duties to go into effect 1 August, some of America's biggest and most important trade partners, including the European Union and Canada, remain in limbo. As hopes for a deal dim, officials in Europe are increasingly rallying around plans for potential retaliation. In Canada on Tuesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney said that "complex negotiations" were continuing but was noncommittal on the prospect of reaching a deal by Trump deadline next week. "We'll see," he told reporters after meeting with premiers in Ontario. "The Americans objectives are multiple, they change over time ... but what is clear is that the Canadian government will not accept a bad agreement. The objective is not to have an agreement at any cost." Trump's tariff plans sparked widespread financial turmoil when he announced them originally in April, putting forward a plan that would leave the US with its highest duties since the early 1900s. He subsequently suspended some of the plan's most aggressive measures, while leaving in place a universal 10% tariff on most goods and separately hitting certain items, such as cars, copper, steel and aluminium, with higher duties. But in recent weeks, as markets have calmed and the US economy held steady, Trump has returned to plans for higher duties, sending letters to countries outlining plans for new tariffs that he says will go into force on 1 August. In a letter to leaders in the Philippines this month, he had said he would charge a 20% tariff on the country's goods. That was up from 17% rate he had threatened in April. In a statement on Wednesday, the Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines said the reduction in the tariff from the most recent rate threatened was "encouraging". "We will continue to find other ways to enhance and deepen our economic partnership," it said. The Philippines is a relatively small trade partner with the US, sending about $14.2bn worth of goods to the America last year. That included car parts, electric machinery, textiles and coconut oil. Meanwhile for companies, the cost of the new tariffs is increasing. General Motors on Tuesday said tariffs had cost it more than $1bn over three months. That followed an earlier disclosure from rival Stellantis, maker of Jeep, which said the measures had cost it €300m (£259.6m, $349.2m). Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data

Columbia University agrees to pay more than $220M in deal with Trump to restore federal funding
Columbia University agrees to pay more than $220M in deal with Trump to restore federal funding

The Hill

time13 minutes ago

  • The Hill

Columbia University agrees to pay more than $220M in deal with Trump to restore federal funding

NEW YORK (AP) — Columbia University has reached a deal with the Trump administration to pay more than $220 million to the federal government to restore federal research money that was canceled in the name of combating antisemitism on campus, the university announced Wednesday. Under the agreement, the Ivy League school will pay the $200 million settlement over three years to the federal government, the university said. It will also pay $21 million to settle investigations brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. 'This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty, acting University President Claire Shipman said. The administration pulled the funding, because of what it described as the university's failure to squelch antisemitism on campus during the Israel-Hamas war that began in October 2023. Columbia then agreed to a series of demands laid out by the Republican administration, including overhauling the university's student disciplinary process and adopting a new definition of antisemitism. Wednesday's agreement codifies those reforms, Shipman said.

Trump's AI Action Plan Is Here: 5 Key Takeaways
Trump's AI Action Plan Is Here: 5 Key Takeaways

CNET

time13 minutes ago

  • CNET

Trump's AI Action Plan Is Here: 5 Key Takeaways

The Trump administration on Wednesday laid out the steps it plans to take to ensure "global AI dominance" for the US, with an AI Action Plan that calls for cutting regulations to speed up the development of artificial intelligence tools and the infrastructure to power them. Critics said the plan is a handout to tech and fossil fuel companies, slashing rules that could protect consumers, prevent pollution and fight climate change. Though the plan itself isn't binding (it includes dozens of policy recommendations), Trump did sign three executive orders to put some of these steps into action. The changes and proposals follow how the Trump administration has approached AI and technology over the past six months -- giving tech companies a largely free hand; focusing on beating China; and prioritizing the construction of data centers, factories and fossil fuel power plants over environmental regulations. It's seizing on the moment created by the arrival of ChatGPT less than three years ago and the ensuing wave of generative AI efforts by Google, Meta and others. "My administration will use every tool at our disposal to ensure that the United States can build and maintain the largest and most powerful and advanced AI infrastructure anywhere on the planet," Trump said during remarks Wednesday evening at a summit presented by the Hill and Valley Forum and the All-In Podcast. He signed the three executive orders at the event. The administration and tech industry groups touted the plan as a framework for US success in a race against China. "President Trump's AI Action Plan presents a blueprint to usher in a new era of US AI dominance," Jason Oxman, president and CEO of the tech industry trade group ITI, said in a statement. Consumer groups said the plan focuses on deregulation and would hurt consumers by reducing the rules that could protect them. "Whether it's promoting the use of federal land for dirty data centers, giving the FTC orders to question past cases, or attempting to revive some version of the soundly defeated AI moratorium by tying federal funds to not having 'onerous regulation' according to the FCC, this is an unwelcome distraction at a critical time for government to get consumer protection right with increasing AI use and abuse," Ben Winters, director of AI and privacy at the Consumer Federation of America, said in a statement. Here's a look at the proposals in the plan. Slashing regulations for AI infrastructure The plan says AI growth will require infrastructure, including chip factories, data centers and more energy generation. And it blames environmental regulations for getting in the way. In response, it proposes exemptions for AI-related construction from certain environmental regulations, including those aimed at protecting clean water and air. It also suggests making federal lands available for data center construction and related power plants. To provide energy for all those data centers, the plan calls for steps to prevent the "premature decommissioning of critical power generation resources." This likely refers to keeping coal-fired power plants and other mostly fossil-fuel-driven infrastructure online for longer. In his remarks, Trump specifically touted his support for coal and nuclear power plants. The administration also called to prioritize the connection of new "reliable, dispatchable power sources" to the grid and specifically named nuclear fission and fusion and advanced geothermal generation. Earlier this month, the president signed a bill that would end many tax credits and incentives for renewable energy -- wind and solar -- years earlier than planned. Wind and solar make up the bulk of the new energy generation being added to the US grid right now. "This US AI Action Plan doesn't just open the door for Big Tech and Big Oil to team up, it unhinges and removes any and all doors -- it opens the floodgates, continuing to kneecap our communities' rights to protect ourselves," KD Chavez, executive director of the Climate Justice Alliance, said in a statement. "With tech and oil's track records on human rights and their role in the climate crisis, and what they are already doing now to force AI dominance, we need more corporate and environmental oversight, not less." Fewer rules around AI technology Congress ended up not including a moratorium on state AI rules in the recently passed tax and spending bill but efforts to cut regulations around AI continue from the executive branch in the action plan. "AI is far too important to smother in bureaucracy at this early stage, whether at the state or Federal level," the plan says. The plan recommends that several federal agencies review whether existing or proposed rules would interfere with the development and deployment of AI. The feds would consider whether states' regulatory climate is favorable for AI when deciding to award funding. Federal Trade Commission investigations and orders would be reviewed to determine that they don't "advance theories of liability that unduly burden AI innovation." Those rule changes could undermine efforts to protect consumers from problems caused by AI, critics said. "Companies -- including AI companies -- have a legal obligation to protect their products from being used for harm," Justin Brookman, director of tech policy at Consumer Reports, said in a statement. "When a company makes design choices that increase the risk their product will be used for harm, or when the risks are particularly serious, companies should bear legal responsibility." Ideology and large language models The plan proposes some steps around ensuring AI "protects free speech and American values," further steps in the Trump administration's efforts to roll back federal policies around what it refers to as "diversity, equity and inclusion," along with references to the problems of misinformation and climate change. It calls for eliminating references to those items in the National Institute of Standards and Technology's AI Risk Management Framework. Federal agencies would only be allowed to contract with AI developers who "ensure that their systems are objective and free from top-down ideological bias." The Trump administration has recently announced contracts of up to $200 million each to developers Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and xAI. Grok, the model from Elon Musk's xAI, has recently come under fire for spouting antisemitism and hate speech. Dealing with workforce challenges The plan acknowledges that AI will "transform how work gets done across all industries and occupations, demanding a serious workforce response to help workers navigate that transition" and recommends actions by federal agencies including the Department of Labor intended to mitigate the harms of AI-driven job displacement. The plan calls for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis to monitor how AI affects the labor market using data already collected. An AI Workforce Research Hub under the Department of Labor would lead monitoring and issue policy recommendations. Most of the actual plans to help workers displaced by AI involve retraining those workers for other jobs or to help states do the same. Other jobs-related recommendations are aimed at boosting the kinds of jobs needed for all those data centers and chip manufacturing plants -- like electricians and HVAC technicians. These plans and others to encourage AI literacy and AI use in education drew praise from the Software & Information Industry Association, a tech industry trade group. "These are key components for building trust and ensuring all communities can participate in and benefit from AI's potential," Paul Lekas, SIIA's senior vice president of global public policy, said in a statement. More AI in government The plan envisions more use of AI by the federal government. A talent exchange program would allow employees with experience or talent in AI to be detailed to other agencies in need. The General Services Administration would create a toolbox of AI models that would help agencies see models to choose from and use cases in other parts of the government. Every government agency would also be required to ensure employees who could use AI in their jobs have access to and training for AI tools. Many recommendations focus specifically on the Department of Defense, including creating a virtual proving ground for AI and autonomous systems. AI companies have already been signing contracts with the DOD to develop AI tools for the military.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store